TM-Free Blog

Skeptical Views of Transcendental Meditation and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Friday, June 30, 2017

For what it's worth

Posted by Sudarsha at 6/30/2017 11:43:00 AM

Email This BlogThis!Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Pinterest

No comments:

Post a Comment

Newer Post Older Post Home

TM-Free Blog Home Page

What You Will Find Here

Insider information about the Transcendental Meditation™ techniques, the TM movement and its late founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Our bloggers take independent, skeptical and critical views of TM claims and research. We report allegations of deception by TM organizations and reports that some individuals experience harm from involvement.

A few words about comments

Like it says at the top of the page, this blog specializes in "skeptical views of Transcendental Meditation and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi." Many if not most posts here present that sort of critical/analytical view with respect to TM, the movement, and the writings or activities of those involved or formerly involved with those things. If you have a problem with that, you probably won't enjoy it here.

Read more about comments here.

By commenting on TM-Free Blog, you agree to our Creative Commons Non-Commercial Attribution 3.0 License. You retain all commercial publishing rights. However, readers may quote for further discussion.

Commenting on most posts closes automatically after 30 days.

Scroll Down for These Links

Essential Documents and Articles
TM Organization and Related Links
Other Cults and Gurus
Cult Recovery, Research and Articles

Popular Posts

Please Help Us Update: How are TM Mantras Chosen?
"It's new ancient wisdom!"
Mantras
Transcendental Meditation's "Advanced Techniques"
The Meaning of the TM Mantras
Book Review: "TRANSCENDENTAL DECEPTION: Behind the TM curtain - bogus science, hidden agendas, and David Lynch’s campaign to push a million public school kids into Transcendental Meditation while falsely claiming it is not a religion" by Aryeh Siegel

Feeds

TMFB feed |

TMFB comment feed

We're on Facebook!

Twitter, too!

Contact/TMFB Coordinator

Former TM meditator, creator of the first website dedicated to critical examination of TM, and the ex-cult Resource Center.

Essential Documents

TM and TM-Sidhi Techniques
TM Mantra Meanings
TM Initiation and Checking
TM Children's Initiation
TM "Holy Tradition" - Initiation Ceremony
Another, older and more detailed, version of the "Holy Tradition"
TM Initiation Ceremony - True Meaning
TM-Sidhi "yogic flying" program
Beacon Light of the Himalayas (1955)
Excerpts, and commentary on "Beacon Light"
Meditations of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1968)
Wikileaks "Transcendental Meditation" category
Roark Letter
DeNaro Affidavit
Kropinski's Answer to Interrogatory No. 40
Kropinski trial testimony "Soma and the Gods"
Kropinski appelate decision 1988, before out-of-court settlement
Malnak v. Yogi, District Court decision 1977 and 3rd Circuit appeal 1979
JAMA: Maharishi Ayur-Veda (Andrew Skolnick)
How to Design a Positive Study: Meditation for Childhood ADHD
Abstracts of Independent Research on Transcendental Meditation
Problems with TM Research - Barry Markovsky
Evaluating Heterodox Theories, including "Maharishi Effect" (Markovsky and Fales)
David Lynch Lecture in Berlin Turns Into Chaos (Video)
Maharishi's Proposal for Permanent World Peace (2001 newspaper ad)

Essential Articles

"About Mantras" series by Sudarsha
TM into Public Schools' controversy by Gina Catena
"Breaking Up is Hard to Do" by Abraham
"TM and Thought Reform" series by Gina Catena
"Consideration of the Yoga Sutras" series by Sudarsha
"Transcendental Life" by Gina Catena
"MMY's Big Lie" by Abraham
"Program Pedophilia" (you are not alone) by Gina Catena
"Addiction and Transcendental Meditation" by Gina Catena
"Transcendental Paranoia" by Gina Catena
"Why I Believe The Transcendental Meditation Org Is Dangerous" by John Knapp
Book Review: "TRANSCENDENTAL DECEPTION: Behind the TM curtain - bogus science, hidden agendas, and David Lynch’s campaign to push a million public school kids into Transcendental Meditation while falsely claiming it is not a religion" by Aryeh Siegel
"Who Are These People? The Backgrounds of David Lynch's 'Researchers'" - Mike Doughney
"Thirty Years Later: What was all that about?" series by Mike Doughney
Team of TM defenders/proponents in online comments organized by TM "Governors" - Mike Doughney
National Center for Science Education: Scientific Creationism and the Science of Creative Intelligence

TM Critic/Skeptic Links

Minet.org - including TM-EX Archives
Trancenet.net
Falling Down the TM Rabbit Hole by Joe Kellett
Behind the TM Facade
Honest Truth About TM
"Transcendental Deception" by Aryeh Siegel
Transcendental Meditation in America: How a New Age Movement Remade a Small Town in Iowa, by Joseph Weber
Judith Borque's exposé of her affair with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Transcendental Life by Gina Catena
Paul Mason's Resources on TM & Guru Dev, including the biography of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Mumosa.com
The Maharishi Effect by Geoff Gilpin
CultNews101
Rick Ross' TM Page
Skeptical Inquirer Articles on TM
"Where have all the flower children gone?" by Bronte Baxter

TM related Wikipedia articles

"Wikipedia is written collaboratively by largely anonymous Internet volunteers who write without pay. Anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles..." The neutrality and accuracy of Wikipedia articles is often disputed. Consider tracing the origin of any assertion found in articles there back to its source, generally found in the references at the end of each article, and weighing the veracity of that source.

Transcendental Meditation
Transcendental Meditation technique
Transcendental Meditation movement
TM-Sidhi program (Yogic Flying)
Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health
(Ayurveda / "Vedic Medicine")
Maharishi Sthapatya Veda
(Vastu / "Vedic architecture")
Global Country of World Peace
David Lynch Foundation
Maharishi University of Management
Maharishi University of Management stabbing
History of Transcendental Meditation
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam (Tony Nader)
Bevan Morris
John Hagelin
Transcendental Meditation category
(index of pages and subcategories)

TM Movement sites

Transcendental Meditation Website
Global Country of World Peace
David Lynch Foundation
Center for Wellness and Achievement in Education
Maharishi Channel
TM Nuns - Mother Divine
TM Monks - Purusha
Maharishi Vedic City
Vedic Pandits in Maharishi Vedic City
Maharishi's Programmes
Global Good News
Maharishi University of Management
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic Vishwavidyalaya
Maharishi Vidya Mandir
List of other TM movement websites

Other Cults and Gurus

Snarky Fun at Guruphiliac
Cosmic Comedy with Cosmic Connie
Rick Ross's Cult News Network
Beyond The Art of Living
Leaving Ravi Shankar's Art of Living
Religion News Blog's TM News Feed

Cult Recovery Links

CounterCultSearch.com: Search for counselors, info, more
List of cult recovery specific support groups and therapists
reFOCUS: Recovering Former Cultists' Support Network
Steve Hassan, Freedom of Mind Resource Center
CultRecovery101
Wellspring Retreat & In-Residence Recovery Center
Safe Passage Foundation - support for youth raised in cults
Colleen Russell, MFT, Bend, Oregon
Bill & Lorna Goldberg, New Jersey
JBFCS Cult Hotline & Clinic, New York
Cult Information Center, London
Guidelines for Cult Recovery Therapists

Cult Research Links

International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA)
ex-cult Resource Center
Cult Information Centre
Cult Awareness and Information Library
FACTnet
Edmonton Society against Mind Abuse
Arthur Deikman's Cults & Spirituality

Cult Articles & Media

TM Overview: Transcendental Life
Counseling for Cult "Walkaways"
Depersonalization & "Witnessing"
Disability arising from Cult Involvement
How I Healed: Seven Steps
How to Be a Successful Cult Leader
Marriage & Children after the Cult
Psychopathology of a Cult Leader
The Wave: Film on Nazi Persuasion

Blog Archive

Contributors

Abraham
Gina
Joe
Joseppi
Laurie
Mike Doughney
Ruth
Sudarsha
Unknown

Contributor Projects

Mike Doughney: minet.org • ex-cult Resource Center
Gina Catena: Coming to Life Stories • Coming to Life Stories FaceBook Fan Page

Followers

Labels

'sidhi' (2) "Cartwheels in a Sari" (1) "high" (8) "Quiet Time" (4) "Robes of Silk" (3) "The Pervasive Influence of Personalities" (2) 2000 Tower Oaks Blvd (1) A Hermit in the House (3) a very small pond (1) Abandoned Projects (3) Abraham (6) ACOCMs (3) activism (1) addiction (12) ADHD (1) administrivia (1) advanced technique (2) advertising (6) Affect (3) Age of Enlightenment (5) allegory (1) Alternative Medicine (3) Amma (1) Anniversary Spectacular (1) Armageddon (1) Art of Living (2) Aryeh Siegel (1) astrology (2) astroturfing (4) attention deficit disorder (1) Australia (1) awakening (1) beach boys (1) Beacon Light of the Himalayas (4) Beacon Light of the Himalayas and Paul Mason (3) Beatles (4) behaviour management (9) belief (30) beliefs (7) Benson (3) bevan morris (4) Bhagavad Gita (1) Big Lie (17) birthdays (2) bliss (5) blog comments (4) Blogs (2) Bob Roth (2) book review (17) boring (1) Brahmanand Saraswati (3) Brahmanand Saraswati Foundation (4) brain chemistry (12) brainwashing (48) Buddhism (4) by Former Future Enlightened Leader (2) by Gina (172) by Laurie (93) by Michael D. Coleman (1) by Michael H. Jackson (1) by Mike Doughney (47) by Paul Mason (2) by Sudarsha (2) CBW II (5) CBW III (1) celebrities (9) celebrity meditators (10) Centrifugal Meditation (2) change begins within gala (1) Change Starts Within Concert (4) channeling (2) Charlie Lutes (3) checking (3) children (15) Christianity (5) Church and State (2) cognitive dissonance (9) Comments (15) conflict (3) Conny Larsson (2) cons (30) consumerism (2) control (5) Court Cases (3) Creepy TM Videos (11) cult (106) cult/cults (89) cults (11) Dalai Lama (1) David Lynch (74) David Lynch Foundation (26) David Wants to Fly (21) death (1) Deathbed (1) deceit (4) deception (32) Deepak Chopra (1) delusion (1) delusional thinking (12) demographics (1) Denmark (1) depression (7) Desperate for $$ (4) disclosure (13) dissociation (15) dissociation and psychological conflict (3) documentary (3) documents (1) dogmas (3) Donovan (3) Doubtful Research (8) Dr. Fred Travis (3) Dr. Herbert Benson (4) dreams (2) effortless (1) Ellen DeGeneres (1) emotional conflice (2) emotional conflict (2) endorphins (9) enlightenment (11) events (2) expectation-setting (4) Experience (2) fabulously expensive religious rituals (4) facebook (1) fairfield iowa (8) false profits (10) faux-science (3) feel the body (1) fees (4) Fire Sale (1) Flim-Flam Gurus (1) folie à deux and the TMO (2) folie à deux and the TMO; attention deficit disorder (1) folie à deux TMO (1) Forgiveness (1) freedom (4) fun (2) fund-raising (2) gay (2) George Hammond (2) George Harrison (1) giggle (1) Girish Varma (1) Gita (1) Global Benefit Concert (5) Global Country (20) God (20) gods (6) gold crowns (1) Golden Domes (3) government support of TM (5) guest post (3) Guru Dev (13) gurus (6) Hagelin (8) Haglin (1) he (1) Hinduism (26) His Majesty Maharaja Adhiraj Raja Raam (2) his majesty maharaja adhiraj raja ram (1) history (8) how to do TM (1) Howard Settle (3) hypnosis (4) Ideal Villages (3) ideological conflict (1) immortality (7) increasing charm (2) India (3) Indian culture (2) indoctrination (32) informed consent (1) initiation (20) initiation fee (2) inner heat (1) International Cultic Studies Association (4) invincibility (3) invincible America (4) ISKCON (3) Islam (1) James Wolcott (1) january birthdays (1) Jeffrey Abramson (2) Jerry Jarvis (4) john hagelin (10) John Knapp (126) Judaism (1) junk science (6) junk-science (3) jyotir lings (2) Jyotish (1) kaivalyam (1) Kaplan (3) KGB (1) king as deity (1) king tony (2) Kropinski (1) Kulreet Chaudhary (1) kundalini (1) Labels: beliefs (1) languages (1) laughter (1) laws of manu (1) lawsuit (2) legal intimidation (5) levi butler (1) levitation (11) liberation (2) lies (39) lying (1) magical powers (3) magical thinking (1) Maharaja Nader Raam (4) Mahariahi (3) Maharishi (13) Maharishi at 433 (3) Maharishi Ayurveda (12) maharishi channel (1) Maharishi Effect (18) Maharishi Foundation Ltd. (2) maharishi jyotish (2) Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (216) Maharishi Obituary (9) Maharishi School (6) Maharishi Sthapatya Veda (2) Maharishi Universities (20) Maharishi University of Management (8) maharishi vedic astrology (3) Maharishi Vedic City (12) Maharishi Vedic Pandits (11) Maharishi Vidya Mandir (1) maharishi yagya (7) Maharishi's "vibrations" (2) Mahesh (10) Mahesh Yogi (1) Maheshi (1) Maheshism (6) Malnak v Yogi (2) mantra (1) mantras (33) marketing (10) McGuru (1) McMoney (2) McRi$hi (3) McYogi (2) meandering (1) medicine (3) meditation (55) meditation results (13) memories (2) mental health professionals (2) metaphor (1) million dollar residence course (2) mind-bending (3) mind-control (35) mind-fuck (12) mokṣa (1) money (27) Mormons (3) Mother Divine (3) movement megalomania (1) MSAE (3) msae alumni (4) MUM (10) MySpace (1) Mysticism (2) National Institutes of Health (2) Native Americans (2) natural disaster (1) natural law (3) natural tendency (2) Ned Wynn (1) New York Times (1) New Yorker article (1) news (13) news brief (8) Old Friends (6) Open Thread (26) Oprah Winfrey (6) orange booklet (1) Pandit Riot (2) pandits (10) paranoia (5) Paul Mason (2) Paul McCartney (9) Peace (1) Peace Palace (4) penetrating insight (1) perfect health (3) perfectionism (1) Personal Stories (48) phony (4) photos (2) Politics (1) polls (1) post-traumatic stress disorder (4) posted by Sudarsha (1) powers (1) prisons (1) promises (1) pseudo-science (11) psychic powers (1) psychosis (9) PTSD (4) puja (17) pundits (1) Purusha (1) Queensland (1) quitting TM (8) quotations (2) Raam (1) Raja John Hagelin (3) rajas (10) Rationalizations (2) Reader Submissions (4) recovery (26) reform (6) Relaxation Response (3) religion (41) religion of Maheshism (5) Remains of Ignorance (15) research (17) Richard Blakely (1) Ringo Starr (1) Rishikesh (2) Robert J. Lifton (7) Robin Carlsen (6) Roots of TM (2) Rose McGowan (1) rumour (7) scams (4) schemes (3) schisms (1) Schmooz (1) schools (2) SCI (1) science (21) science of creative intelligence (2) Scientific American (1) Scientology (48) Second Generation Adults (7) Secret of the Mantras (1) secrets (25) sex (11) sexism in the TM program (2) sexy Sadie (4) Shankaracharya (1) shared madness (1) Shiva (1) shiva lingam (1) siddhi (1) siddhis (2) side effects (20) side effects of TM (3) sidha lands (1) sidhi (9) Sleep and Meditation (2) Sneaky (1) Social Climber (1) Social Trends (1) Soma (1) Sopranos (1) South Africa (1) South Fallsburg (1) spiritual development (3) spiritual nonsense (6) spirituality (28) Spy (1) Sri Chinmoy (1) Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (4) starting TM (4) Steps to Recovery (23) strategic image management (4) strength (1) Strength in Stillness (1) stress (2) submissions (10) suicides (15) Sun Myung Moon (7) support group (1) teacher training (4) Technical Difficulties (9) techniques (16) techniques for development of consciousness (1) The Beatles (3) The Magical Mystery Tour (8) the past (1) The Raj (1) The TM Book (2) think free (67) Thom Knoles (1) thought reform (21) threats (5) TM (292) tm blogging (3) TM claims (14) TM documentary (1) TM expose (2) TM films (1) TM in public schools (33) TM Nostalgia (3) TM sidhi program (6) TM Teacher Training (8) TM-children (21) TM-Free Blog (23) TM-Siddhi (9) TM-Sidhi (23) TMFB Pages (2) TMO (8) TMO as millenarian movement (2) TMO downsizing in the West (2) TMO Panic (3) TMSP (4) Tolerance (1) tower of invincibility (1) Toxic Concern (1) toy government (1) trademarks (1) traditional (1) TranceNet.net (1) Transcendental Deception (1) transcendental meditation (511) Transcendental Scams (46) Transcript (1) trivia (1) True Believer (41) True Believer Rationalizations (6) TV (3) ult/cults (1) Unification Church (7) unstressing (8) Upgrades (1) Used Mantras (1) Utopia (1) Vastu (1) Vedic (6) vedic architecture (2) Vedic calendar (1) Vedic City (11) Vedic devata (2) vedic pandits (9) Vedic revival (4) veterans (9) victim (1) victimise (1) victims (14) victors (12) video (1) violence (3) weakness (1) wealth (1) wikileaks files (1) Wikipedia Scandal (2) witnessing (3) world peace (5) worship (8) yagyas (9) Yoga Journal (1) yoga sūtra (1) yoga sutras (11) Yogi (1) Yogic Flying (14) yogis (1) Young people meditating (18)

Disclaimer / Intellectual Property Notice

All posts are the personal opinions of the individual authors and are not necessarily endorsed by other TM-Free contributors, individually or collectively. Comments on articles are the sole responsibility of the authors themselves. All postings are copyrighted by the individual authors and all rights are reserved by them.

The TM-Free Blog and its contributors do not offer instruction in, or assistance with, meditation or any other mental practice. The blog's title should not be interpreted to mean that this blog offers a "free" meditation practice of any kind.

Transcendental Meditation, TM, TM-Sidhi and many other terms used on this website are registered or common law, trademarks or service marks of Maharishi Vedic Education Development Corporation (MVED), Maharishi Foundation USA, or other corporations or entities in the United States and other countries and are used here to identify those specific products and services.

All material on this site is intended for information, commentary, criticism, parody, satire, and other journalistic purposes. Any use of copyrighted, service marked, or trademarked material is therefore subject to fair-use exception under US Copyright Law.

TM-Free Blog is a critical resource on Transcendental Meditation; by this we mean that our web site focuses on material that is critical of the TM program. We offer our site not as a complete answer to questions about TM, but rather as a balance to the largely unbalanced and uncritical resources published by the numerous TM movement organizations and their participants. TM-Free contributors do not conclude that any group discussed on this site is necessarily cultic or abusive in nature. We provide suppressed and alternative information so that you may make informed decisions — for yourself.

Powered by Blogger.